


in between

by inabroomcloset



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22999807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inabroomcloset/pseuds/inabroomcloset
Summary: That stretch of time between TK being shot and being in the hospital
Comments: 4
Kudos: 100





	in between

“Was that a gunshot?” Pauls question rang out, breaking the silence that followed the loud bang. There was no answer until TK stumbled, and there was a sudden chorus of his name. Judds scream rang out through the house, overshadowing everyone else’s. 

“Oh god, oh god,” Owen breathed, gently lowering his son to the ground. TK’s eyes were wide, blinking quickly, but he made no noise as his dad pressed a hand against the hole in his chest.

“EMS 126, was that a gunshot?” A voice crackled over the radio. Michelle knelt down beside TK, swinging her bag around and ripping it open.

“Yes, and we have a firefighter down, send an additional RA unit for the callers husband.” She motioned to Gillian to help her. “Captain Strand, I need you to move.” When he made no sign that he’d heard her, she placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “Owen, you need to move aside and let me do my job.”

Owen looked at her, shaking slightly and nodded, before leaning back against the wall beside TK. His hands, now coated in blood, hovered just above his sons labouring chest.

Two police officers with their guns raised entered the hallway. “Where’s the shooter?”

Marjan pointed into the room. “In there but...it’s just a kid. I think he’s just scared.” The officers exchanged a glance, before holstering their weapons and stepping into the room. Rosewater waited until they’d grabbed the gun before entering to assess the cardiac event.

“Judd, get a backboard ready.” Michelle said as she cut open TK’s uniform. His white undershirt was soaked through with blood, and when she cut through that too, his chest was the same. Blood pumped erratically from the wound as TK tried to breathe. A hollow wheezing was all that emerged from his mouth as he stared up at the ceiling 

“We need to get him stable enough to move.” Michelle said under her breath to Gillian. “He’s losing too much blood and it sounds like his lung is collapsing.”

Judd and Marjan slid in next to Michelle, placing the backboard gently on the ground. “We moving him now?” Judd breathed, unable to draw his eyes away from TK’s barely moving form. 

“In a second.” Michelle placed a packing over the wound, stopping the air in TK’s lungs from escaping, and began to feel underneath him for the exit wound. 

The second her hand lifted him up in the slightest, TK’s body jerked with a hideous gurgling noise, and suddenly there was blood staining his lips. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Judd yelled, pulling Michelle away, allowing TK to rest flat on the floor again. 

TK wheezed as blood dribbled out of his mouth, over his cheek, and his eyes began to flutter shut. 

“No, TK you gotta stay awake.” Marjan squeezed his hand, the only comfort she could give in that moment. 

Owen leaned forward and began patting TK’s cheek, trying to get his eyes to focus. “Come on buddy. Please.” 

His mouth moved as if he was trying to say something, but there was no sound, save for his choked out breaths. A single tear made its way out of his hazy eyes and traced a line through the blood smeared across his face. 

“Get him on the backboard. Now.” Michelle ordered. Judd and Marjan didn’t hesitate, sliding him across onto the sturdy plastic, trying desperately not to look at the puddle of blood left behind, and ignoring the pain-filled whimper that he made. “Lift on three.”

Paul and Mateo each took a corner, joining the rest of the team as they lifted TK off the ground and onto the waiting gurney. 

Michelle sprinted ahead, ignoring the nosy neighbours and curious police officers who had gathered around to see what exactly had happened inside the quiet suburban home. She pulled open the ambulance doors and stood at them, waiting, when she caught the eye of the one person she really didn’t want to have to face. 

Carlos walked over to her, concern written across his beautiful features. “Hey chica. You okay? Gun on the scenes gotta be scary.” 

She attempted a smile. “I’m okay. I promise.” He nodded, barely buying it. 

“You said there was a firefighter down,” He turned towards the front door, where everyone was making their way out. “Who...” His words stopped as his eyes locked on the body laid out on the gurney. 

Michelle spared a second to squeeze her friends shoulder, before climbing into the back of the ambulance. She knew there was something between the two men, after the conversation her and Carlos had over beers, but the depth of it was something she hadn’t had a chance to consider. From the look in Carlos’ eyes, this went deeper than just a hook up. Much deeper. 

“Cap, he blacked out ten seconds ago.” Gillian told her before running around the front to start up the ambulance. 

Carlos stood helplessly outside the doors, watching as Owen climbed up beside Michelle, with his hand firmly wrapped around the side of the gurney, his face drawn. 

“I’ll, um,” Carlos breathed, unable to tear his eyes away from TK. “I’ll give you guys an escort. Clear the roads.” 

Michelle nodded, before pulling the doors shut and banging on the cabin to give Gillian the all clear. 

“I’m gonna start an IV,” She said, “I need you to grab the life pack and hook him up for me, okay?” 

Owen chewed on the inside of his cheek, but nodded. Michelle felt for TK’s pulse, but held back her wince at how weak it was. 

“Okay, sweetheart,” she murmured into TK’s ear as his dad stuck cables all over his bloody chest. “Your dad is always talking about how strong you are. Nows your chance to show me he’s right, okay?” She allowed herself one moment to be sad for the boy, her teammate, in front of her, trailing her fingers down his cheek, before she got back to work. 

The life pack began beeping, showing his heartbeats, as erratic and slow as they were. Owen started at the small screen, as if willing it to keep making noise. 

“We’re fifteen minutes from the nearest hospital, TK.” Michelle said as she stuck a needle into his arm. “You just gotta hold on until then.” 

He showed no signs that he’d heard her, his face pale and slack. 

“Do you know his blood type?” Michelle asked Owen. 

“Uh, he’s type A.” 

“Okay.” She handed him her radio. “Call ahead and tell them to have A blood on stand by. He’s gonna need it.” 

He fumbled with the radio, his hands still wet with blood, but he managed to make the call. Michelle continued to work, rummaging around the bus, and pumping all sorts of things into his sons body. 

It wasn’t until she reached for a vial of something he recognised that he spoke up. “You can’t give him that.” He breathed. She paused, a needle in her hand, extracting morphine from a bottle. 

“He didn’t show it before because he was in shock, but he could wake up at any second, and when he does he’s gonna be in severe pain.” She moved to inject him with the morphine, but Owen grabbed her hand. 

“You can’t give him any opioids.” He didn’t bother trying to stop himself from crying. “He’s in recovery, and if he finds out that we broke his sobriety, that I let you break his sobriety...” He shook his head. “He’d never forgive me.” 

Michelle sucked in her bottom lip, eyebrows creased. “I...I had no idea.” 

“I know.” Owen ran his hand down TK’s arm. “I’m so proud of how far he’s come, and I don’t want to ruin it for him.” 

She placed the morphine back in a drawer. “This recovery is going to be very difficult without any painkillers, you understand that?” 

“I do.” Owen nodded. “And if, when he’s conscious he decides he needs them, I will be there to help him through it all. But for now, I can’t make that choice for him.” 

“Okay.” 

“Okay.” 

“We’re two minutes out!” Gillian shouted from the cabin. 

Michelle looked at Owen, who was looking at his son, and saw all of the stress of the day come crashing down on him. He looked broken, and tired, and sad beyond belief. But mostly, he looked utterly terrified. “Hey.” She reached across the gurney to place a soft hand atop his. “I’m not gonna lie and tell you everything’s gonna be alright. But gunshot victims typically bleed out on the scene. Once they make it to a hospital, their chances of survival increase by eighty percent.” She squeezed his hand reassuringly. “He can make it through this, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

They pulled up quickly, and TK was whisked away from both of them, leaving them standing there, hands stained red. Carlos was parked just in front of them, eyes trained on the emergency room doors, as if he could still see the gurney that had disappeared between them. 

“I, uh,” Owen looked at Michelle. “Thank you.” 

“Just doing my job. Captain.” She gave him a tight smile. “We need to take the bus back to the station, are you gonna be alright here?” 

“Yes. Um, yes. Sure.” He took a deep breath in, before squaring his shoulders and walking into the hospital. Michelle spared Carlos a glance, before jumping back into the ambulance and heading towards the station. 

She found the entire team there, all shucking off their gear as quickly as they could. 

“How’s TK?” Marjan asked, running towards her the second she’d stepped out of the bus. 

Michelle sighed, pushing her hair off her face. “Alive.” 

Judd let out a sound that was almost a sob and practically collapsed against the wall, hand going straight to his eyes. 

“We should go there.” Mateo said, chewing on his thumb. “We should go, be there with him. Right?” He looked at Paul for confirmation, who nodded. 

“Yeah, probie. We’ll head there once we get cleaned up.” 

“TK could be dying and you’re worried about how you look?” Mateo yelled. Paul shook his head and grabbed Mateos shoulder. 

“I’m worried that if we don’t clean up our mess and get the rig sorted for the next shift, then someone else could get hurt. And it would be our fault. So we’re gonna clean up after ourselves, finish up with our jobs, then shower and change up into fresh clothes so that we don’t run the risk of infecting anyone with our dirty asses.”

Marjan stepped up beside Paul. “He’s right probie. The team comes first. But that includes the whole team, and do you think TK would be okay with us putting someone else in danger?” 

Mateo sniffed. “No.” 

“No.” Marjan gave him a soft push. “So go get those hoses sorted.” 

He nodded and darted away. Marjan headed towards the equipment they’d thrown onto the rig in a hurry after everything had happened, and began to store it away properly. 

Paul turned to Judd, who was still leaning against the wall, shoulders shaking. “Hey.” 

Judd moved his hands, revealing the tears that had spilled. 

“He’s gonna be alright.” Paul nudged his teammate, trying to be encouraging even though concern was threatening to tear a hole in his stomach. “He’s gonna pull through this.”

Judd sucked in a breath. “I just-“ He stamped his foot against the ground twice. “I can’t do it again. I can’t lose another brother.” 

“You won’t.” Paul shook his head. “You know that TK wouldn’t do that to you.” 

Judd let out something that sounded like a laugh. “Yeah I know. That little shit likes annoying me too much to let me off now.”

“Exactly.” Paul bumped Judd with his should. “Now help me sort out this mess so we can get the hell out of here.”

They were done and packed into cars on their way to the hospital within half an hour. In the waiting room they found their captain, hands still stained red, with his head drooped between his shoulders. 

“Hey cap.” Marjan sat beside him, trying not to let her concern show too much. “Any news?”

Owen shook his head. “No. Nothing. Just that he’s in surgery.” 

The team surrounded their captain, encircling him in an awkward, half-standing, half-sitting group hug. “Is there anything we can do right now? Anyone you want us to call?” 

“I should probably call TK’s mom.” He rubbed at his face. “But I don’t want to tell her until I actually have something definite to say. She’s gonna have a million questions and I don’t think-“ 

“It’s okay.” Paul rubbed Owens shoulder reassuringly. “Hold off on the phone call for now. Why don’t you go wash up?” 

It was as if Owen only then realised the state he was in and he shot to his feet. “Yeah. That’s...that’s a good idea. Just, if the doctor comes out-“ 

“We’ll tell them to wait for you.” Judd nodded, pushing Owen towards the bathroom. “Go.” 

It was a long night, that turned into a long morning, with all of them taking turns staring at the doors leading to the surgical wing. None of them slept, or even blinked, it felt like. And when, finally, finally, a doctor in scrubs walked out and asked for the family of Tyler Strand, a collective breath was held. 

The doctor talked to Owen, gesturing and leaving the whole team nervous, until they saw him, pale and attached to what looked like a million machines, but alive, and put into a private room.

Owen nodded to the doctor, before pulling out his phone, and walking down the hall. They all waited, two minutes, three, four, until he came back, and handed the phone to the doctor, shrugging nonchalantly. 

“It’s gonna be a while before he wakes up.” Owen rubbed at his neck, the gesture uncharacteristic for the well put-together man. “Maybe you should all head home, get some sleep.”

“All due respect, Cap, but no fucking way.” Judd shook his head. “We ain’t going anywhere.”

Mateo nodded fervently, and solidified his point by slumping down into a plastic chair, arms crossed. “We’re gonna stay.” 

Owen let out a long breath. “It’s gonna be a lot of sitting around. They don’t know how long it’ll be and...they’re worried there might be some...” He shook his head, as if in denial. “There might be some issues they couldn’t fix. In the surgery.” 

“We’re not leaving.” Marjan said, and Owen knew better than to try and argue with her. 

The doctor, looking significantly more ruffled than before, came marching towards them and thrust Owens phone back at him. “You can go in and see him now.” He muttered. 

The team frowned, at the doctor and then at Owens phone. 

“Who was that?” Paul asked. “And why does the doctor look like he’s about to hurl himself off the roof?”

Owen cracked half a smile. “TK’s mom. She can be a bit intense. And she’s a lawyer. And she’s very, very protective of her boy.” He turned to the glass walled room where the nurses had set TK up. “I’m gonna...”

“Go. We’ll be right here if you need us.” 

“Always.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I know literally nothing about gunshot wounds this is all inaccurate information ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
